


heavy is the head that wears the crown

by enamuko



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21946828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enamuko/pseuds/enamuko
Summary: Leo is drowning under the weight of his responsibilities. Flora is helping keep him afloat, but the last thing he wants is to drag her down with him.She's not willing to let him make that choice for her.
Relationships: Flora/Leon | Leo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 17
Collections: Fire Emblem Rare Pair Christmas Exchange 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dornishsphinx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dornishsphinx/gifts).



> This was written for the 2k19 Fire Emblem Rare Pair Christmas Exchange! I hope you like your present dornishsphinx! Thanks for the lovely opportunity to write a ship I had never even thought of before!

The weight of the cape secured around his neck made Leo feel like he was choking.

He stared at himself in the mirror, but he might as well have been staring at a wall for all it mattered. No matter how long he looked at the mirror, he wouldn’t see his own reflection; all he could think was ‘why is someone else wearing Xander’s crown’?

A cool hand on his shoulder made him take a sharp breath. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. But as it always did, the moment passed.

“Your Majesty?”

“...Don’t call me that.”

“...yes, Lord Leo.”

The cold, gentle touch disappeared from his shoulder and made him regret his tone, the way in which he was so quick to brush off the one person who seemed to touch him so casually for such a small thing.

But as it always did, the moment passed.

With his cape in place and crown secured upon his head, Leo ceased to exist, and when he looked in the mirror it was the King of Nohr who stared blankly back at him.

There were whispers among the court. There were always whispers among the court. From the time he was old enough to understand their words, Leo had been plagued by their cruel voices, their eyes boring into him every time he turned away, like knives digging into his back…

_What a shame_ , they said now. _His brother would have made such a fine king_.

He found himself inclined to agree.

There were other whispers, too. These ones did not settle with him the way their thinly-veiled barbs did. When they said he would never be the king Xander would have been, they were speaking only the truth.

When their cruel lips sneered at the frigid maid who followed him, and their cruel voices hissed about how the Ice Tribe maiden who had failed to stop the Hoshidan invasion that had killed their king and crown prince and sweet princess should not be permitted to serve the king, particularly not with such an ugly scarred face—

He wanted to cut out their tongues.

It was Flora, each and every time one of them spoke just a bit too loudly to disguise, who reminded him,

“It’s hardly worth it, Lord Leo. They are just vain, cruel people. Please, be calm.”

Of course, she was right.

But he would still take great satisfaction in the fear that flashed in their eyes when he would turn to them to simply… Stare. And let them know that he had heard them.

Perhaps he was not the cruel man his father had been, but he still had the capacity for cruelty, and they all knew it well.

The smooth passage of the brush through his hair was soothing; the cold hand on the back of his neck, moreso.

“There you are, Lord Leo. Do you need anything else this evening?”

He almost relied upon this nightly ritual. Just as Flora and Flora alone (he kept no other serving staff, other than Niles and Odin, and he hardly imagined they counted), furthering the rumours and whispers of the court who he could hardly wait to be rid of, though for now he relied on their filled coffers with Nohr struggling under the weight of a costly defeat at the hands of Hoshido…

Of course, just as with everything else he cared for— he had to find some way to sabotage himself.

“I’m not a child, Flora,” he said, the words falling from his lips even as he screamed at himself in his own head. “I can brush my own hair and get myself ready for bed.”

The cold hand left the back of his neck.

Leo cursed himself.

(He spent a great deal of time doing that.)

“Of course, Lord Leo.”

Flora set the hairbrush on his vanity, taking the tray from his earlier evening tea instead.

Leo knew that it was really only a matter of time. Eventually Flora would tire of hearing him say each time she showed him a kindness that he didn’t need it, or of the fact that he never thanked her for the many tasks she performed that were far beyond the ordinary duties of a maid, or of his growing annoyed with her over the smallest things— and sometimes even for no good reason.

And then she would leave, which was exactly what he deserved. Not only for the way he treated her now, but for every other one of his failings as well, of which there were many.

He truly did not understand how she, or Niles, or Odin, or _anyone_ was willing to stay by his side. Corrin had been smart enough to leave the first chance he had; Camilla was there still, but in body only, because he could feel her pulling away every day. She smiled at him and told him what a wonderful job he was doing and how grateful she was that he had taken the weight of the crown from her, because she would never make half the ruler he would be, she was sure, and every lie made the light in her eyes grow a little bit dimmer.

Camilla had always been so much closer to Xander and Elise than he had. She had been so much better at breaching Xander’s defenses than he ever was, and she and Elise had the bond of sisters, something almost sacred that he had always known he would never be able to truly understand.

He knew one day he would wake up to find Camilla gone, with heartfelt apologies.

He knew one day they would all leave him.

But he also knew that the next night, he would take his evening tea, and then Flora would brush his hair to help rid him of the strange indents that came from wearing the (his) crown all day, and then she would ask him if he needed anything else, and then she would retire for the night.

He almost wished she would just get on with the part where she got tired of him. It would be a lot less painful to get it out of the way now.

Leo had never thought much about Flora before the war. At first, she had simply been one of Corrin’s maids, and he had been taught from a young age to never think much about the serving staff; they were simply there when they needed to be and faded into the background otherwise.

When he got older and began to both resent the teachings of his childhood and understand his kingdom’s brutal politics, he realized she wasn’t a servant; she was a slave, a political prisoner forced into servitude.

He still didn’t think of her much, though, back then. Her and Felicia’s circumstances were just one more thing to add to the ever-growing list of atrocities his father had committed. Tragic, but nothing he hadn’t come to expect.

And then, the war.

He didn’t think about the war. He actually put a great deal of effort into not thinking about the war, because if he didn’t it would seep into his mind at every turn. He couldn’t stop it from invading his thoughts in the dead of night, seeping into his dreams until he was forced to relive every moment he had tried to forget, including some that he hadn’t actually been present for, but which his mind was happy to stretch his imagination to bring him.

It wasn’t as though Leo had never had nightmares before. His life hadn’t exactly been rosy _before_ the war; there had always been plenty of things to keep him up late at night. But the war had made him feel uniquely powerless. At least before the war with Hoshido, there had always been small ways in which he could rebel, and he could feel like he was making a difference no matter how small— he couldn’t save everyone, but he could save _some_ people from his father’s wrath, and perhaps that was enough.

But he couldn’t save Elise, or Xander. He hadn’t even been there when they had died. Would things have been different if he had not decided to trust Corrin and Azura? Or if they had convinced Corrin to return home with them before the war even began?

It didn’t matter. None of it ever mattered. He couldn’t turn back the clock.

But it made him wonder if Flora thought the same thoughts, in the dead of night, where she had nothing else to consider. Did she, too, lay awake both wishing for sleep to come and dreading the inevitability?

Wondering what might have happened if she had followed her sister to join Corrin rather than being dragged into Garon and Iago’s schemes?

He never asked her about it, though.

And she did him the same courtesy.

The hardest part was pretending everything was okay.

In the day to day, he didn’t really need to bother. The court certainly didn’t care what his mental health was like, so long as he kept the kingdom running, most of which he had very little to actually do with (and which they likely wished he would involve himself in even _less_ than he already did). He gave a little more effort with Camilla, no matter how much she insisted that he didn’t have to act like that around her— because he _did_ , and they both knew it.

He couldn’t stand her pity.

The worst, though, was Corrin.

It wasn’t just seeing him so happy with his new family, though that did awaken some sickening feelings that he felt were better left unexplored.

It was seeing him happy _at all_.

Every time that thought crossed his mind when Corrin would sweep him into a hug to greet him or he would see him at the other end of the banquet table chatting with whoever was seated next to him (because Corrin could make friends anywhere he went, Leo knew that) and smiling as bright as the sun, it made Leo feel sick. He knew he was a horrid excuse for a man, feeling so upset by his own brother’s happiness. After everything, didn’t Corrin deserve whatever happiness he could find?

And yet every time he looked at him, laughing and smiling and loving and being loved, Leo couldn’t help but feel like he had forgotten about them. About the family they had lost. Did Corrin even still consider them family? They weren’t related by blood, and their father had been a monster, but did the years they spend together mean nothing?

Did Xander and Elise mean nothing?

For once, though, Leo didn’t voice those horrible thoughts out loud. If he did, it wouldn’t just be himself he was sabotaging; it could very well sabotage all of the diplomatic work he’d been doing, all of the reparations he and the royalty of Hoshido had struggled to make, the generosity of the Hoshidian royal family when Nohr had been the initial aggressors in the conflict…

Peace between Nohr and Hoshido was already an unpopular decision on both sides; he did not need to be adding to the tension by insulting their recently returned prince who had been stolen away by Nohr in the first place… Not when he was already struggling under the weight of the crown and the mess his father and brother had left behind.

Perhaps it made him an even worse person (something he had a hard time conceiving, when being king had already brought him to new lows he had never even imagined), but he felt comforted by the fact that his misery rarely lacked company.

Flora accompanied him on every diplomatic mission to Hoshido. Of course she did; she was his personal maid, and attended to the duties that usually required half a dozen serving staff.

He would watch her be enveloped in a hug by her twin sister and tense up under her touch, the temperature dropping by slight degrees that Felicia didn’t even notice because she was so comfortable in the cold. Watched her go out of her way to avoid Jakob, even when they were both meant to be serving at once and it required a great deal of effort to make sure she didn’t have to speak with him.

Watched her flinch and hide the scarred half of her face by turning away whenever Corrin would look her way, and then invent some sort of excuse to leave the room.

Flora never flinched away from him, never tried to hide her face, not even when the court sneered at her and called her petty insults based on her looks and the circumstances of her birth because they could think of no other way to criticize her without making themselves look foolish.

She simply stood behind him or at his side, holding her head high, almost defiantly.

As much as he was comforted by not being the only person who so strongly disliked their Hoshido trips, he still liked that Flora better.

Leo had no idea why Flora had become his maid.

Before the war, not only did he not pay her much mind, but she had hardly ever acknowledged him either. She had devoted herself entirely to Corrin, even though Leo could see the brewing resentment that eventually faded to grim acceptance.

If she was going to be forced into servitude, she seemed to think, then she was going to be the best servant she could be.

Then, Corrin had sided with Hoshido. Felicia had followed him without hesitation. Jakob had followed later, when he’d had the chance to escape Nohr without detection. But Flora had remained, to become a pawn in his father and Iago’s scheme to both subjugate the Ice Tribe and capture the Hoshidan royals.

Leo had no idea what happened that day in the Ice Tribe village. Flora never spoke of it. Neither did Corrin, or his other retainers. If it happened to come up, Flora looked… Almost ashamed.

He knew her scars had come from that day.

He somewhat suspected they were self-inflicted.

He never asked.

All he knew was that after the dust had settled, when he was burdened with the weight of his impending coronation, she had suddenly reappeared. She asked to return to the employ of the Nohrian royal family as a maid.

He never asked. But he accepted her into their employ again without question or hesitation. She was a good maid. She had lived through the same tragedy that made him feel like he was constantly falling into an abyss. He needed someone he knew he could trust to perform the mundane and very necessary tasks his father had employed a fleet of servants for. It had all added up to make it seem perfectly obvious and logical, no matter that he knew she had always resented Nohr for her literal kidnapping and imprisonment, no matter that the court had whispered about it endlessly.

The only time he asked anything like that was,

“Why don’t you return to the Ice Tribe?”

He had asked her that as she was clearing away the dishes from his lunch, which he had taken in his private quarters with the excuse that he needed privacy to draft some particularly delicate trade negotiations, though in reality he was simply overwhelmed by the constant demands of his court and their unwanted “advice” and had needed to slip away for a bit.

Flora had stopped in piling the dishes on her serving tray.

The temperature had dropped by several degrees.

“...There is nothing there for me any longer, Lord Leo,” she had replied, and then, “Would you like to take your tea now, or would you rather wait a while?”

“Your people must be rebuilding,” Leo had continued, ignoring her obvious attempt at changing the subject. “I’ve withdrawn all Nohrian forces from the area. I haven’t been able to send much in the way of reparations yet, but—”

“They likely wouldn’t care much if you did,” Flora said, interrupting him. The room continued to grow colder. Leo could see frost crawling across the window that sat over his desk. “The Ice Tribe is resilient, and were self-sufficient long before Nohr invaded them. I’m certain they’ve already recovered quite a lot.”

“Then why—?”

“Because, as I already told you, Lord Leo: there’s nothing left for me there. I’ll bring your tea now.”

And then she had swept out of his quarters with the lunch dishes, the window already starting to thaw in her wake.

“You could stay in Hoshido, you know.”

Leo had been thinking about Flora a lot. A lot more than he usually thought about Flora. She had become such a constant presence, almost— a comfort.

And the knowledge that he didn’t deserve it made him antsy.

Made him want to sabotage it before it had a chance to blow up in his face unexpectedly instead.

“Hm? What was that, Lord Leo?” Flora was in the middle of pouring his tea, while Leo sat beside the window that opened up to the bright courtyards of the Hoshidan palace. Flowering trees and blooming gardens where one could take a leisurely afternoon stroll— Lord Ryoma was no doubt too busy for such a thing, but he could easily picture Corrin and Princess Sakura arm in arm walking through the winding paths, admiring the water lilies… So easily, in fact, that he had to double check that he was actually imagining it and it wasn’t happening directly below him.

Corrin belonged here. Not in the cold shadow of Nohr where the only thing one could see outside their bedroom window was the glowing heated rock that powered the city, where daylight would never reach.

“You could stay here. With Corrin and your sister,” he repeated, casually, as she set his tea in front of him.

The temperature dropped.

Leo sipped at his tea as if he didn’t notice.

“...I’m employed as _your_ maid, Lord Leo,” she said curtly. “Lord Corrin surely has enough serving staff.”

“You wouldn’t need to be his maid. Do you think Corrin would want you to come back just to wait on him hand and foot again?”

“I certainly wouldn’t want to be a _charity case_.”

“Don’t you think you _deserve_ a little charity, Flora? After everything, don’t you think you deserve better than—- than bringing the pretender King of Nohr his breakfast and helping me _brush my hair_ at night like some sort of child?”

The facade he’d been putting up, of cool disinterest, crumbled. The words spilled out faster than he could control.

The room grew colder.

“After ‘everything’?” Flora repeated, as Leo watched ice begin to crawl across the floor beneath her feet. “You mean after I attempted to kill him, the entire Hoshidan royal family, my dearest childhood friend, and my own _twin sister_? All under the orders of a man who I knew from the beginning I couldn’t trust to keep his end of the bargain?”

“Flora—”

“No, Lord Leo.” She looked at him sternly. The coldness in the room seemed to seep into her eyes. “I’m tired of… This. You keep trying to push me away while pretending that it’s somehow for my benefit. If you’d like me leave, you can simply say so. But I came back to Nohr and into your service of my own free will. I don’t need you to ‘set me free’ or whatever it is you think you’re trying to do.”

Leo had no idea what to say.

Flora stared at him.

The room was cold.

Finally, he couldn’t bear it any longer and he looked away, back towards the gardens. He leaned forward to rest his head against the chilled glass.

"You deserve better," he said, and didn't want to think about that any further, think about why his chest was growing tight just with his own thoughts.

“I think I can determine that for myself, thank you.”

The room temperature started to rise again, and Leo felt a drop of water roll over his forehead and down his nose, following the familiar path that a tear might take…

“O-oh— Lord Leo. Your tea has gotten cold.” Flora let out a humming noise. She sounded… Embarrassed? Well, she had always been a little shy about her control over her ice powers… “Let me bring you another…”

“No, Flora.”

As she reached for his teacup, he grabbed her wrist. A flash of cold made him hiss and pull his hand away suddenly before it could start to hurt, and he instantly started cursing himself internally.

“I…” He swallowed and tried to look her in the eye without wavering, with the level of feigned confidence he’d spent so many years of his life trying to perfect… “I’m… Not thirsty. I… Want you to stay here. I don’t want you to leave.”

There were multiple meanings to that. He didn’t feel like thinking about that at the moment. Not when it made him a hypocrite who couldn’t even stand by his own words.

He knew Flora deserved better. But he still didn’t want her to leave.

“...I’m not going anywhere, Lord Leo.”

“...Just Leo is fine.”

“Alright, Leo.”

He couldn’t bear to look at her as she sat down across from him, but out of the very corner of his eye, he swore he could see the slightest hint of a smile on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some barriers have been broken down, but some should still remain... At least, that's what Leo tells himself.

“Flora?”

“Hm? Yes, Leo?”

“Will you answer something honestly for me?”

“...I suppose that depends on what the question is.”

Things had changed, after that day. Leo couldn’t pinpoint exactly _how_ they had changed, and perhaps he was reading too much into things. After all, from the point of view of an outsider, really nothing had changed at all; he was still floundering his way through learning how to lead a country that barely wanted anything to do with him on a good day, and Flora still served him faithfully.

After that day, though, whenever he made a snide comment or felt the urge rise up in him to push Flora way again, she shut him down ably, with a particular gleam in her eye. It made him feel like a child being scolded, but also…

Warm?

In private, too, there was much less formality between them. He had been surprised when she hadn’t tried to argue at all with him about his request that she refer to him by name only, rather than his title. It made him wonder if she had had a similar relationship with Corrin during their time in the Northern Fortress; it wouldn’t have surprised him, since it wasn’t as though they had much in the way of company other than each other and the other serving staff…

And now, when they had the time to do so, they actually spent it _together_. It wasn’t simply Leo drowning, held under by the weight of expectations, and Flora diligently keeping him afloat only to disappear when it seemed like she was no longer needed.

It was almost too good to be true.

And perhaps most surprisingly of all, he didn’t want to ruin it for himself.

He actually felt like it was _okay_ to have this in his life.

But his curiosity was just as demanding as it had ever been.

“Why did you want to be my maid?”

Flora looked up from her book. No matter how many times he saw it, it was still odd to see her out of her uniform. He had certainly never seen it while she was in Corrin’s employ.

She was wearing a simple white slip of a dress, and her hair had been released from its usual twin tails. It was longer than he would have expected, but then, he really didn’t know anything about long hair. The way she was curled up in the chair across from his, illuminated by the light of the fire burning in his hearth as she read her book, made her look like she was prepared for bed.

The court would be clutching their pearls and fainting dead away if they saw something like this… But Leo had never cared, and he cared even less now.

“...Pardon?” Flora asked, narrowing her eyes slightly as she closed her book and set it aside. Leo… Knew what she was thinking.

Every other time he had asked her something like that, it had been for one of his self-depreciating, self-sabotaging reasons.

“I appreciate having you here,” he added, to dispel that notion as much as he could. “And you’ve told me before why you don’t want to return to your village. I can even understand why you wouldn’t want to go to Hoshido with Corrin and the others. But you could have gone— anywhere. You could have started a new life, far away from… _All of this_. So why did you come back just to become my maid?”

Flora stared at him for a moment. She looked… Genuinely surprised by his question. She settled back and looked towards the fire.

With her head turned in that direction, her scar was prominently on display. Since her uniform had a high collar, he had never known how far it crawled down her neck until she had started dressing more casually around him, until they had started their— whatever _this_ was.

Friendship? If he was forced at sword point to pick something, that was what what he would have said, but it felt… Not inadequate (because if Flora called her his friend, he was sure it would spark something embarrassingly warm in him, as those were few and far between for him at the moment), but not entirely truthful, either.

Her scar disappeared into her dress, and he had wondered more than once just how far it went… He always shut those thoughts down quickly, however. (And he didn’t always think of it innocently, which made him even more ashamed…)

This time it was a genuine curiosity. There was no scarring on her hand on that side, but did it go down her arm? Or perhaps her back? Did it ever hurt or feel uncomfortable, even so long after being healed?

“I suppose… I came back because I knew that I would be needed here.”

He was almost so distracted by his thoughts that he almost missed the answer to his question, but the answer would have caught him off guard either way. Thankfully Flora didn’t wait for him to ask, and continued to elaborate on her own.

“After my failed attempt to stop the Hoshidan advance, I… Was taken prisoner by them,” she continued. “Although ‘prisoner’ might be a bit harsh. I was gravely wounded, and despite my betrayal, Corrin and the Hoshidans took me with them to treat my wounds and ensure I didn’t fall into Garon’s hands again. By the time my wounds had healed, the war was over. Hoshido had won, and King Garon was dead.”

Leo’s eyes were drawn again to her scar. He knew it was rude to stare, but… He couldn’t help but think about what had caused it.

Again he thought about the fact that she had, more than once, implied that it was self-inflicted, and felt a sudden lurch in his stomach.

“I know Corrin would have let me stay. But I couldn’t… I felt like I was taking advantage. After everything I had done, how could I stay by his side? I tried to kill him, and my own sister…”

He watched her face screw up as she paused, looking almost pained. His stomach turned even more, making an acidic nausea rise up in his chest. A cold breeze blew right through him, making him shiver in his seat.

“Flora— it’s alright. You don’t have to say anymore,” he said, because no amount of curiosity would be worth seeing her in distress over what he’d asked her.

Flora took a few deep breaths, and shook her head.

“No, I’m fine,” she said. “It actually feels… A little freeing, to be able to talk about it now. Now that I’ve had some time to think about it and distance myself from it.”

“...Alright. But stop if you need to. I have no desire to push you into anything.”

“Of course, Lo— Leo.” Flora laughed, almost giggled at her own stumble, or perhaps at the fact that as soon as he heard the word ‘Lord’ start to come out of her mouth, Leo shot her a stare that was even icier than her own.

At least she was laughing. That seemed like a good sign.

“Where was I? Right… After deciding that I couldn’t stay with Corrin and the others, I wasn’t quite sure of where to go. I couldn’t return to my village, after all. Not after… Not after what happened to my father, and for me to have failed them so miserably…”

Her face screwed up a second time, and this time something inside of Leo snapped. He rose from his own seat, crossed the distance between them, and sat himself on the arm of her chair instead— wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a hug.

“You haven’t failed anyone,” he said firmly. “You did absolutely everything you could.”

He knew it wasn’t enough. They were just platitudes, but they were the only thing he could think to say. Everything else… He couldn’t think of how to say it without it being completely embarrassing, or worse, scaring Flora off completely.

He was pretty sure he was already overstepping some major boundaries by just suddenly hugging her like that. They were obviously more than royalty and servant; they had settled into something more like the relationship he had with Niles and Odin, a strange sort of friendship that seemed built on rather than ignoring the fact that he was technically their employer. But that didn’t mean they had ever really… Discussed what was and wasn’t alright.

His only real comforts were the fact that Flora wasn’t pulling away, and the fact that the room’s temperature wasn’t dropping.

Flora wore her heart on her sleeve; she was good at maintaining a stoic face, not showing in that way that anything was bothering her, but her powers tended to go wild whenever her emotions spiraled out of control, even internally.

And right now she felt perfectly warm in his arms.

“Leo…”

She _was_ tense, enough that when she spoke he was quite certain she was going to tell him to back off (and he was more than ready to do so)— but in an instant, she relaxed and leaned into him, resting her forehead against his shoulder.

They sat there in silence for a few moments— Leo was caught between releasing all of his tension and relaxing into the hug just like she was, and letting his mind race with a dozen different concerns.

He’d never really been the affectionate type, even though he craved it far more than he would ever admit; that had always fallen to Camilla and Elise. And since Elise was… Gone, and Camilla had started to drift…

Flora’s hand came to the back of his neck, idly stroking at the nape where his hair began. Her cold touch was a comfort now; it reminded him of when he was a child and Camilla would press a cool cloth to his head when he had a fever, or of the rising stiff cold breeze that signalled they were close to the Northern Fortress…

“The real reason I came back…” Flora’s voice was more of a sigh than a real sound. “I suppose I came back because I knew someone here would need me. Felicia doesn’t need me, Corrin doesn’t need me, Jakob doesn’t need me… My people certainly don’t need me… But after everything that happened, I knew Nohr would be suffering more than anyone.”

“You can’t say it doesn’t deserve it.”

“Perhaps.” Flora turned her head, but kept it resting on his shoulder. “Your father did some truly horrific things during his reign, and there are many people in the kingdom who never questioned him as long as it benefited them. But there are a lot of innocent people just trying to scrape out a living here. Good people, who don’t deserve to suffer because of your father’s stupid war. ...People like you, Leo.”

“People like… Me?” Leo knew he sounded ridiculous, from the tone of his voice to just repeating something so simple, but it utterly dumbfounded him.

He knew he didn’t deserve what his father had put him through. None of his siblings ever had. His vague, far-off memories of a loving father were practically _smothered_ by the mountain of memories of his abuse and the horrors he inflicted on their kingdom. But hearing it from someone else, someone outside of his family who constantly traded those reassurances just to keep each other sane?

It… _Confused_ him, far more than it probably should have.

“After everything that happened during the war, I knew you and Lady Camilla would be suffering just as much as I was.”

Leo couldn’t help but shiver at both her words, and the way she was casually drawing shapes on his neck with the tip of her finger, without even thinking about it.

“If nothing else, I knew I could find someone here who would understand how I felt… And someone who needed that care that I wanted to give someone. And when I saw that you were suffering as much as you were, I knew I had to stay with you.”

“F-Flora…”

Perhaps things weren’t cooling _down_ , but Leo could certainly feel himself heating _up_ , and the fire in the hearth had nothing to do with that.

Hearing those words, feeling Flora resting against him, their arms wrapped around each other… Not only was he embarrassed by the fact that he had apparently inspired a strong urge in her to _take care of him_ , something that embarrassed him enough when his actual older sister wanted to do it but which was even more embarrassing coming from someone who had practically been a stranger at the time, but…

Well, it felt strangely intimate.

He knew it was probably a bad idea for him to stay there, embracing her the way he was. It had probably already gone on long enough for it to tip over from friendly into something else, and no matter how much people already talked, they could only talk more in the unlikely event someone walked in to see them like… _This_.

But he couldn’t bring himself to pull away. When was the last time he’d actually hugged someone? Had it always felt like this? Before… Everything, Camilla had always gone out of her way to make sure all of them knew they were loved, but since the end of the war…

No, even before the war, it hadn’t felt like this, Leo was certain. Maybe it was the fact that Flora was leaning into him just as much as he was leaning into her. Maybe it was hearing her say that she had stayed with him because he made her feel needed. Or maybe it was just the way she was playing with his hair and seemed totally at ease being held in his arms, despite the fact that they had never really… Come anywhere _close_ to something like this…

And really, wasn’t this the exact reason he had always tried to push her away? Because he felt like he didn’t deserve to have her in his life? She had just shown up one day, practically out of nowhere, when they had hardly known each other before, and now… Now he couldn’t imagine going a single day without her. Not just because she was so good at her job, at keeping him running every day, making sure his difficult work went as smoothly as it possibly could… But because she was a stronger person than he was, and having her by his side made him feel like if she could endure what she had gone through, then he would live through it as well.

He reached up to brush her hair away from her face where it had fallen when she’d turned her head to rest it against him. His fingers brushed against the edge of her scar, and though she tensed up slightly, when he moved to pull his hand back her own came up to grab his wrist and stop him. She guided his hand to cup her cheek, where Leo could feel a lick of the scar as he brushed his thumb across her cheekbone.

Leo was no stranger to that sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he considered _possibilities_ , ones that had not come to pass but so easily _could_ have. And he was certainly no stranger to overthinking things. Considering what had happened during the war, there were some who would say it was hard to imagine how things could have turned out _worse_ , but for Leo it was easy.

Such a massive scar, and so clearly the product of fire… Judging by the almost artistic edges, and the way it almost seemed to tingle under his touch even though it had been…

Gods, had it already been more than a _year_ since Nohr and Hoshido had declared their armistice? Since he’d lost Xander and Elise?

When the wounds had been fresh, even as he had been telling Camilla he would take the burden of the crown from her, he had genuinely not imagined surviving so long. And even in the fleeting moments where he hadn’t been burdened with thoughts like that, he had not imagined finding any real _joy_ in his life. It was a melodramatic way to think, but…

Well, his entire life had been pulled out from under him. Two of the only people he had ever genuinely believed cared about him had died; another one had held the sword that killed one of them. He could count the remainder on one hand. He felt like he was entitled to a few dark thoughts.

Regardless, he certainly couldn’t imagine being _here_. And because he could still feel the residual magic running up his fingertips from a year-old injury, he knew he was _incredibly_ lucky to have Flora with him. You couldn’t just throw water on a magically-summoned fire…

“And that’s… What you really want, Flora? To stay with me?” He tried to keep the surprise, the incredulous tone out of his voice. It would only make him seem more pathetic, and he didn’t feel like dealing with the constant fight between his pride and his desire for validation that would come with her pity. Especially considering she was the one baring her heart to him, just because he’d asked her to. It seemed… Selfish. “Because I make you feel needed?”

“That’s… Certainly a part of it.” Flora was frowning, but thankfully she didn’t look _upset_ , just… _Thoughtful_. “It’s why I first came to you, and it’s why I was happy to accept a job as your personal maid, even if I was surprised that you offered me such an important position… We never really got to know each other before that, did we?”

“No… I think about that a lot, as well. It’s strange to think that I trust you as much as I do when we barely knew each other before the war.”

And he _did_ trust Flora. He wasn’t sure he would say he trusted her more than anyone else— that would be doing an immense disservice to Odin and Niles, the most loyal men he had ever met and who he knew would die for him no matter how much he didn’t want them to.

But even the fact that he trusted Flora _equally_ was _massive_. He was certain he couldn’t say that about anyone else outside of his family.

“I like to think it’s because we understand each other so well.” Flora smiled, and the warmth of that smile did more for him than the hearth ever could. When it faltered, he felt a sickening tug in the back of his chest. “Not… That our situations are the same…”

“Flora, you’ve spent most of your life being held prisoner and forced to be a servant to a foreign prince. You lost your father and had to deal with your people being under the thumb of a ruthless tyrant.”

“A tyrant who you’ve spent your entire life trying to avoid getting killed by, for any slight misstep. And then what happened with Lord Xander and Elise…”

“We don’t need to compete,” he said firmly. “I think it’s safe to say you’re right; we’ve both suffered a great deal and we can sympathise with each other in a way that most people probably can’t understand. And I think… That’s why I’ve never been able to shake you, Flora. No matter how hard I’ve tried to push you away.”

Flora chuckled, which made him blush, because he didn’t feel like he said anything especially funny, and was now actually wondering if he’d said something embarrassing. “I just know what it’s like, that’s all,” she said. “Wanting to push people away, because it’s easier than getting hurt. It took me… Much longer to warm up to the other people in the Northern Fortress, than it did for Felicia. And when I saw how much you needed… Well, _someone_ , I wanted to try to be that. For both of our sakes. Even if you were going to fight me about it every step of the way.”

“I still have a hard time believing I’m worth all that trouble…” He sighed. “But if it makes you happy, I won’t argue.”

“You _are_ worth it, Leo,” Flora said firmly.

“If you truly believe that, then believe that I think you’re every bit as worthy, if not moreso,” he replied just as firmly. “Which is why I have a hard time understanding why you’re willing to just… Spend your days running around playing maid for me.”

“You’re a king, Leo.”

“In name. But we both know I’m only the king because the _real_ king died in the war.” And they both knew he wasn’t talking about his father.

“Perhaps your brother was the one who was raised to be the king, but I’m sure he would be proud to see you now, Leo. And I think the fact that you’re so worried about being a good one means you’re already more worthy than King Garon ever was.”

Every word that came from her made something warm, almost _too_ warm, build up in his chest until he felt like it was about to burst. Overwhelmed by that feeling, he couldn’t resist the urge to wrap his arms more firmly around Flora and pull her tight against his chest, burying his face in her hair.

“I… This is what I mean, Flora,” he said after a moment when he could start to recover the ability to _speak_ , when it didn’t feel like he was being choked by that warmth. “I don’t… I don’t deserve any of this. I should be the one telling you how amazing you are. Instead, not only are you my _maid_ , but you’re having to sit here and reassure me about all of these things.”

“Leo…”

He was expecting another reprimand, another little speech, maybe, about what he deserved. Camilla had often told him the same things, and he was sure if he actually spoke with her for more than a few minutes, she would tell him the same things now.

Flora didn’t do that.

Instead, Flora buried her face further into his shoulder, just like he had burrowed into her hair.

“I want you to think more highly of yourself,” she said, or at least he was _mostly_ certain that was what she said; her voice was muffled by the way she was speaking into his shoulder, and it was starting to grow heavy to boot. Was she falling asleep?

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, honestly.

“Yes, well. I want the same for you.”

“In just the short time we’ve spent together, I’ve watched you become such an amazing king, even when it seems like everyone in Nohr is working against you…”

“And that whole time, I’ve depended on you to help me through it, and I’ve watched you have to deal with those same people treating you like garbage for no better reason than because I decided to give you a chance.”

“A few spiteful comments are nothing. And when they can’t think of anything to say except to insult my appearance, all it tells me is that I’m doing well enough that they can’t think of anything important to criticize.”

“You shouldn’t have to deal with it at all. And once Nohr doesn’t have a use for their overflowing pockets any longer, you won’t have to. I promise you that.”

“Leo…”

“I mean it, Flora.”

Flora sighed, deeply. She sounded almost exasperated with him, which made him wince, but when he looked down she was smiling.

“I know you do. Things like that are exactly why I think you make such a good king. But I don’t want you risking anything on my account, not for something like that.”

“Anyone who would say those sorts of things about you aren’t the sort of people I would ever want advising me, regardless.”

They could have continued like that forever, he was starting to realize. It seemed like the two of them were just… _Destined_ to go back and forth, exchanging compliments and barely skirting around something entirely different that Leo wasn’t sure he was ready to approach, with guest appearances by their own self-depreciation.

And all the while Flora was curled against him with her head on his chest, their arms wrapped around each other as Leo sat on the arm of her chair, as though this was perfectly normal. As though this wasn’t the first time Leo had felt the warmth of her body against his own, a perfect contrast to the gentle cold fingers that had grown to be such a comfort,

(as though he hasn’t been avoiding thinking about this same thing because he knows it would be wrong of him, would be taking advantage)

While he was starting to wonder if maybe Flora hadn’t needed this just as badly as he had.

He had lost Elise, the light of everyone’s lives, and he and Camilla had been dancing around each other since that day, neither of them sure what to say to each other. Just as Flora had chosen to return to Nohr rather than following her sister to Hoshido, and went out of her way to avoid her during their visits.

Maybe it wasn’t just their circumstances and the pain they had lived through that made them so similar; maybe there was more there, but they had simply never stopped to examine it so closely.

“I… Don’t tell you how much I appreciate you nearly enough, Flora,” Leo said, searching for a way to say the things that were building up inside him without it coming across as… _Horrifying_. “The reason I’ve been able to hold it all together this long… is because I have people like you and Niles and Odin by my side. I would have never made it as far as I have without you.”

He felt like he _had_ to mention Niles and Odin— partly because he felt guilty that he had been talking so much about this sort of thing but had barely mentioned them at all, and while he _was_ trying to tell Flora how much he appreciated her to convince her that she was worth more than she seemed to believe she was, it was important for him to remember that he owed his success to more than one person.

It also let him hide what she might not be as comfortable hearing, or even having hinted at, by hiding it with their names. Of course she was important to him; she was just as important to him as his two closest friends and confidants, the two other people he trusted with his life, who he knew would support him no matter what…

If there was anything else on top of that? Well, they didn’t need to deal with that right now.

“You keep saying things like that, Leo,” Flora said with another sigh, although this one sounded more contented than exasperated. “And I like knowing I’m appreciated, really… But all I’ve done are my duties as a maid. Maybe I’ve done them well, but you really don’t need to praise me so excessively for helping you brush your hair or bringing you tea every afternoon…”

“...Or standing by my side against those people you call me a good king for standing up to, even when they sneer at you for it. Or for staying by my side even when I’ve tried so hard to make you leave because I feel like I don’t deserve you. I mean, the reparations and negotiations with the Ice Tribe would have never gone half as well if I hadn’t had you to guide me…” Leo chuckled, almost darkly, thinking of exactly all of the ways he could have possibly screwed that up and incited another rebellion. Not that he would have blamed the Ice Tribe, considering what his father had put them through… “In fact, I could almost argue that you would make a better ruler of Nohr than I would.”

“Leo!”

It was probably not a good sign that his biggest problem in that moment was the way Flora pulled away from him— not because he was worried he had said something wrong (although in the back of his mind, he was always _somewhat_ worried about that… Basically every time he opened his mouth, and especially around Flora, given his track record) but simply because he hated the loss of the feeling of her resting her head against his chest, the warmth of her body, the coolness of her hands.

Oh, he was in far deeper than he had ever imagined. And he was absolutely determined that Flora would not know how deep he was. Not now, not ever.

So even though he hated it, he acted casual as she leaned back, clenching her hands tightly in the fabric of her dress and fixing him with a worried look.

“You can’t just say something like that…” Her voice was almost a whine, which he found… Far more adorable than he was sure he should.

(Really, he had been bottling this up for so long… It was almost pathetic, that this had grown from nothing more than simple, friendly human contact and concern. Flora would probably be disgusted if he told her, even if he made a joke out of it… Not that he was known for making jokes like that.)

“Why not? It’s just the two of us here.”

“If anyone ever heard you say something like that…” Flora looked almost pained, and Leo couldn’t help but wince a little in sympathy, even as he hid it behind a raised eyebrow.

“Flora, I think if someone were to find the two of us like this, the conversation we were having would be the least of their concerns.”

“What do you— _Oh_.”

It suddenly occurred to Leo that she might not have realized what they looked like, her in her dress that looked like night clothes, the two of them so casual and comfortable with each other, now having spent the last few minutes embracing each other… Leo had been thinking far _too much_ about it and had just assumed that she was the same…

He should have kept his mouth shut, he realized, because now Flora had backed up as far as she could go without actually getting out of the chair. Still, he couldn’t show it. So he just sighed in the same put upon fashion that she had inflicted upon him earlier.

“You and I are friends, Flora,” he said, reminding himself of exactly that at the same time he was saying it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “There are already plenty of people— the same people we were talking about before— who would take offense just to _that_ , to me being friends with a servant instead of treating them like dirt. And I don’t care what any of them think or have to say, about _anything_.”

Particularly when it came to Flora. Everything they said about her incited only one emotion in him: indignant rage. Every time they opened their mouths he wanted to punch them in the teeth, but a combination of knowing he should be smarter than that _and_ knowing that it was a bad idea even if doing so _wouldn’t_ get him usurped just _barely_ managed to hold him back.

Leo didn’t think of himself as an especially physically violent man, no matter what some people might say about the royal family of Nohr (most of it, unfortunately, justified… Though he so badly wished to _scream_ that all of the blame should fall squarely on Garon’s shoulders, he held his tongue). But when it came to the people he cared about...

Well.

Everyone had their limits.

“Still… To say something like that…” Flora frowned deeply at him, but she didn’t look stern or disapproving… Only worried. “You said it yourself, Leo. People already talk… You don’t need to be giving them any more reason to…”

“And I also said I don’t care what they have to say.”

“Perhaps you don’t, but you still have a lot of things that you want to accomplish as king, don’t you? You’re making enough waves as it is…”

Flora sighed again, and turned away, her eyes sliding shut. She angled her body away from him so she was back to sitting properly in the chair, hands folded in her lap.

The temperature in the room dropped by a fraction, at the same time as Leo felt his heart drop in his chest.

He truly did not know when to keep his mouth shut, did he?

“Leo… I care about you. A lot. Perhaps… More than I intended to.” Again she bunched her hands in the fabric of her dress, and between that and the decreasing temperature, he could tell that the way she had carefully schooled her face into a look of indifference was a complete lie. “I came back to Nohr for selfish reasons, even if those reasons ended up helping you as well. I only ended up working for you because you invited me to do so. I could have just as easily ended up working for Lady Camilla, or taken up a general position in the serving staff. Anything to make me feel needed.”

Leo had guessed that. After all, they had barely known each other before Flora had come to him after the war. He reminded himself of that often, and he was sure she did the same.

Hearing that still made something ache sharply in his chest.

“And that’s why… I don’t feel like I deserve having you say these things about me. Especially when it’s going to get you into trouble if someone hears you saying it. Or… Or if they were to see us.”

“Flora…”

“I want to support you, Leo. But maybe it’s best if I go back to doing that from a distance…”

“Flora—”

“I’ve enjoyed this, the two of us spending time together like this, but—”

“Flora!”

He hadn’t meant to shout, but she hadn’t been listening to him any other way, and there was a sort of desperation in the way it tumbled out of him.

“...Leo?”

Flora sounded concerned, and Leo didn’t blame her. He was actually surprised with himself for how loud he was, and if he wasn’t certain they were not only alone in his chambers but that the other servants (and Niles and Odin) had left them completely alone in the entire wing of the palace, as Leo had instructed every night since he had dismissed his entire personal staff and kept Flora as his only servant.

Even then, part of him was worried that he had been loud enough that _someone_ would have heard and would come to check up on him. But he powered through it, knowing that was more paranoia than anything.

“You spent so much time and energy trying to keep me from pushing you away, so why are _you_ pushing me away now?”

Flora’s head snapped in his direction, looking at him with dinner-plate eyes. She looked so startled that for a second all he could think of was how much she looked like Felicia whenever she would be a split second from tripping and falling flat on her face, or sending something flying through the air.

“I don’t care what people have to say; the only reason I wanted to keep this private and between us is because I can’t stand to listen to them spouting their nonsense. If it does get out? Fine. It doesn’t bother me, and I’m more than prepared to deal with anyone who wants to make a mountain out of that particular molehill.”

Leo would be grateful for any reason to get rid of the bastards sooner rather than later, with proper justification. He could even seize their assets if he had reason to believe they were being seditious, which they no doubt would be if they knew about their… _Friendship_.

They were just _waiting_ for a chance to get rid of him. He could see it in their eyes at every council meeting, every time he passed them in the halls and in their stunned silence when he glared at them for their comments about Flora.

(He had no doubt that they made comments about him, too, but it felt almost _satisfying_ that they didn’t dare say it to his face. He might not have been half the king Xander would have been, but even if they saw him as a terrible king, he was still _king_.)

“I’m not worth jeopardizing your chances of fixing everything your father did, even if that shouldn’t be your job in the first place. No matter how highly you think of me, nothing is worth that.”

“If caring about you and thinking highly of you would be enough to jeopardize that, maybe this place isn’t worth saving.”

“Leo!”

Leo jolted when Flora smacked him on the knee. Even _Flora_ looked surprised by the fact that she had done that, before schooling her face back into a stern scowl.

“You can’t possibly mean that.”

“Maybe not. But if you want me to stop saying things like that, then you’re just going to have to accept that I _do_ think you’re worth it, so I don’t have to keep telling you to try and convince you.”

He gave her a smug smile, knowing he had won that particular— argument? Disagreement? Bout of mutual self-loathing? Whatever it was, he made it clear he would brook no argument, and though Flora was frowning at him, it was with the frustrated stare of someone who knew they had lost, even when they hadn’t known it was a competition.

Leo tried not to compete where he didn’t need to, because he was starting to realize now that he used it more often than not as an excuse to explain why he felt so poorly about himself— of course he deserved to think less of himself, he would never be able to measure up to Xander as a king, would never be as loving and kind as Camilla, would never be able to make people happy the way Elise always had, would never be the leader Corrin was.

But in this case? Maybe a little competition wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

“I asked you why you came back to Nohr and became my maid,” Leo said, once he was sure Flora wasn’t going to try to argue with him again, even though she was still frowning at him— a frown that actually made him smile, because it was a cute annoyed face rather than the upsetting frown she’d been wearing before. (It was okay to say it was cute, right? Oh well. No one was going to hear him inside of his own head, and he was beginning to accept just how deep he was in this already.) “You said it was because you wanted to feel needed. And you think that makes you selfish, which is why you’re trying to argue that I shouldn’t think as highly of you as I do. Does that about sum everything up?”

“...it does,” Flora said, narrowing her eyes at him, peering at him like she was trying to guess what he was up to. Like this was some sort of masterful plan in action.

“Well, then. If that’s how you see things, then you shouldn’t think very highly of me, either. After all, I’ve made you do the job of an entire king’s serving staff this entire time, leaning on you and relying on you entirely even while I was actively trying to push you away and keep you at a distance. You even had to teach me that hard lesson yourself, when I could have easily used that as an excuse to _send_ you away…”

“I knew you would never do something like that, Leo, no matter how out of line I might have been.”

“But I would have been within my rights as your employer, yes? And despite how sure _you_ might have been, I doubt I would have been nearly so sure. It drove me crazy for a while, having you so… _Determined_ to _take care_ of me when all I wanted was to be left alone to wallow in my own misery. I think if I hadn’t been so shocked, if I had been particularly low at that moment, I would have been happy to use it as an excuse to finally make you see that I wasn’t worth your attention.”

It felt— _strange_ to say such things out loud. Painful, even. They were things he had tried hard not to think about, even when he knew it wasn’t good to avoid them, just because… Well, it almost _embarrassed_ him.

He wasn’t much better now, honestly, which was what had led them into this entire conversation in the first place. But he liked to think he was at least more honest with himself, and with Flora, and had accepted that no matter what he might think about _himself_ , she wanted to be around him.

It was making him feel even _worse_ to think that he hadn’t made Flora feel the same way all this time…

“So if you’re selfish, then I’m even more selfish than you are. Because I need you, and yet I’ve spent so much time trying to convince you, and myself, that I don’t. Which is probably the most selfish thing I can imagine.”

He’d meant for it to sound big, and grand. It wasn’t a declaration— he wasn’t sure what he would want to declare, after all. He was still figuring that out, and still felt like his stomach was going to come up through his body or his heart was going to claw its way out of his chest whenever he got anywhere _close_ to the idea, so he shelved it for the moment.

But it came out small. Soft. He almost whispered it, like saying it any louder would scare her off— or scare himself off from saying it in the first place.

And then there was silence.

The silence lasted no more than a few moments— long enough that Leo held his breath the entire time— but he must have gone through a million thoughts in that time, most of them wondering exactly how stupid he was for just— _saying_ something like that.

And then— Flora smiled at him.

He had hardly noticed that the temperature was going back up, until a shudder went across him from his body adjusting to the sudden _warmth_ after the vague cold that had settled over them from Flora getting emotional, even if she had barely shown it.

“I suppose we’ll just have to be selfish together, then,” she said, and moved back towards him. He opened his arms for her, and she happily settled in against his chest again.

“I can’t believe you consider yourself _selfish_ when you _brush my hair_ for me every night,” he said with a loud sigh, at the same time as he lifted his hand to gently stroke Flora’s hair, hoping he wasn’t overstepping any boundaries.

Or maybe they had already completely gone over those boundaries. He just didn’t want to think about it at the moment.

“You pay me an absurd amount of money to brush your hair for you every night, Leo,” Flora reminded him, laughing, both muffled by the way she had planted her face right in his shirt. “And I’ve never been much of a warrior or a leader, but I’ve always been a good maid.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Flora. You would make an excellent leader. I wasn’t kidding when I said you would probably rule Nohr better than I could.”

“Leo…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep that between us. I don’t plan on making things anymore difficult for myself than they already have to be.” He still wondered if Xander would have had an easier time dealing with… _All of this_ than he was, but considering the sort of damage their father had left behind?

Well, it was hard to imagine even Xander being able to deal with it _smoothly_ , which was… Somewhat reassuring, even if it made his heart ache to think about it.

“I still think you shouldn’t be saying it at all,” Flora said with a sigh. “No matter how highly you think of me, I’ve never been good at leading people. I would do it if I had to, but… I can’t say I feel comfortable with it.”

“It takes practice,” Leo admitted. “And a lot of pretending to know what you’re doing. Everyone always focused so much on Xander, and even on Camilla, so I never really learned how to be a leader the way they did…”

Was that partially his own fault? No doubt he’d wanted so badly to avoid being caught in their shadows that he had gone out of his way to avoid being compared to them, instead finding his own things to focus on so that he could be acknowledged outside of them. When Brynhildr had chosen him as its wielder, he’d seen his chance; Xander was a swordsman wielding their family heirloom sword and Camilla was a striking wyvern rider whose axe would cleave you in two before you even saw it coming, but _he_ had the magic talent in the family.

He regretted it now, of course. Not only because it would have no doubt helped him when he was forced into the role of king (and would still be helping him now), but because it made his heart ache to think how much he had separated himself from them just to avoid people making that comparison. Xander had always closed himself off from everyone for the sake of being the rock for their family, but what might have been different if Leo hadn’t done the exact same thing? What if he had tried to reach out to Xander the way Camilla had, or Elise? Would they have been closer brothers?

They were all purely hypothetical questions, of course. Xander was gone. Leo had missed his chance, and worrying about it wouldn’t do him any good. All he could do now was try to make Xander proud, do the work he would have wanted to do repairing the harm their father had caused.

“Mostly I just do what I think Xander would have wanted to do… And exactly the opposite of what my father would have wanted to do.”

“A philosophy we can all agree with,” Flora said. “But you shouldn’t sell yourself so short, Leo. Having watched you all this time, I know you’re a good leader, a good _king_ , even outside of just acting like your brother. You care about people, and hate when people take advantage of those who are weaker than them. Maybe you don’t know all the secrets of being a ‘good king’, but— well, I con’t want to speak badly of the dead, but I highly doubt Xander really knew what he was doing, either…”

Leo blinked.

“Ah…” Flora frowned. “Maybe that was too much of me? I didn’t mean it in an insulting way, not at all… But when I was young, I thought for sure that my father knew everything, that he had always been good at leading our tribe. And even though I still think of him as a great leader, I can’t help but think about the fact that he couldn’t protect our tribe from the Nohrian army, and couldn’t stop Felicia and I from being taken. So, he wasn’t perfect… He was just… Doing the best he could. And I think that’s all anyone can ever do. Lord Xander wasn’t a perfect leader, either… But he did the best he could, and that’s what you do, every day.”

Leo blinked again.

“L-Leo? Did I… say something wrong? Are you alright? You’re… Being very quiet…”

Leo pulled away from Flora, looked her dead in the eye, and leaned in to kiss her.

It was sudden, but it wasn’t _fast_. There was no awkward bumping of noses from a passionate lunge, no clacking of teeth or anything involving tongues. As kisses went, it was chaste, just the smallest of pecks.

Almost as soon as it started, Leo felt his entire chest seize up as he realized what he was doing. Apologies were already beginning to rise in his throat, explanations for his behaviour, anything that would make the voice in his head screaming about how he had just screwed up irreparably _stop_ —

He didn’t get the chance before Flora was leaning into the kiss, almost like she was _following_ him.

When they did separate, the only thing Leo could think to say was,

“I… Didn’t mean to do that.” And then, clearing his throat, “...At least not without asking first.”

“It’s— it’s alright, Leo,” Flora said, and he couldn’t miss the way her face was flushing. “I… Didn’t mind it at all. I actually… Enjoyed it, even if it was unexpected.”

“O-oh.” He cleared his throat again, mostly because he felt like it was going to close up otherwise. “I… Don’t know what I was thinking, either. Or what I was expecting. I haven’t really thought about… This. If there’s anything here. Or even if I want there to be anything.”

“Oh… Oh! I… Haven’t thought about it either. I mean… I sort of have. Maybe once or twice. But with everything that’s been going on, and I’ve been too concerned with just making sure you’re okay, so that’s not really what I was thinking about…”

“I’ve… Tried not to think about it. Not because I didn’t want to think about it. Because it’s inappropriate. Or, at least, I thought it was. If you don’t think it’s inappropriate, though…”

And then, suddenly, Flora was laughing.

“F-Flora? I don’t see what’s so funny…” He could feel his face heating up terribly.

“Really? The way you and I are just rambling at each other? You don’t find that funny at all?” she said, breaking out in giggles, even as she was still blushing from embarrassment the same way he was. “I… Don’t think it’s inappropriate. Not on your part, at least. I know I work for you, but… I think of you more as my friend than as my employer. But just like with everything else… I know you don’t are what people think or have to say about you, but I don’t want anything to get in the way of you being able to do what you need to do as king.”

“It won’t,” Leo said, immediately. “That, I can promise.”

And he meant it. He had no idea what was going on between them— and it terrified him, because what if something happened between them? He had come to depend on Flora for so much, the thought of driving her away just after she had finally gotten him to see that he would much rather keep her close—

“I can practically hear you thinking, Leo,” Flora said, and laughed some more.

“I have a lot to think about,” Leo said almost defensively.

What he didn’t need to think about… Was how glad he was that he had Flora by his side.

And the fact that he would do anything to keep her by his side.

Which, honestly, should have made him realize the truth so much sooner.

“Flora?” he said.

“Hm?”

“I… Care about you. A lot.”

“I care about you too, Leo.”

“I think I’d like to kiss you again.”

“I think I’d like that.”

And so he did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It isn't something that Flora should be ashamed of, but the thought of people knowing... It still terrifies her.

The weight of the necklace around her neck made Flora feel like she was choking.

The hands doing up the clasp of her necklace were delicate, but calloused. Her own were much the same, which was precisely why she wore delicate gloves, of white or black or purple silk; she was not ashamed of her origins, nor was Leo, but there were plenty of people who had not yet been purged from the court (try as he might) who would use any excuse to criticize her, or him, or to simply distract from the matter at hand.

Leo might not care about what they had to say, but Flora refused to let them use their cowardly and underhanded methods to undermine what he was trying to do, or to distract him from his goal by invoking his anger.

At the end of the day, _he_ was the king, and _they_ would be the ones who were kicked out as soon as they stopped being useful.

“Do you need anything else, m’lady?”

“N-no, that will be all… Thank you…”

Hearing someone calling her that was still… Unsettling. But she remembered what it was like when Leo had asked her to stop calling him ‘Lord’. She’d been happy to, if it made him feel more at ease, but… The part of her that had been all but trained to be the perfect servant had rebelled against it, even though she knew it was what he wanted and that he had no expectation of her to act that way.

She would never blame Gunter, rest his soul, for what she had gone through— he had done the absolute most he could for her and Felicia in their situation— but she did think that his training had been _too_ effective…

Her serving woman bowed behind her where Flora could only vaguely see her in her vanity mirror, said a few parting words Flora wasn’t quite paying attention to, and excused herself.

When Flora looked at herself in the mirror, rather than at the woman standing just behind her, she could hardly recognize herself.

It wasn’t that she really looked that different, other than her clothes. It had only been a few months, after all— a startlingly short amount of time considering… Well, everything. She had traded in the starched black and white uniform of a maid for the typical dress of a noblewoman of Nohr, custom fitted and made to match her colours as precisely as possible.

It was far too much, and to see herself dressed like the nobility of the people who had kept her prisoner for so long… It was even more, some days. But she had to continue to remind herself that she had chosen this. She had been free, able to go where she wanted, and she had returned to Nohr of her own volition.

The necklace jangled when she gave a heaving sigh.

It was also too much, though at least it only felt that way because of its value and not because of its meaning. She had protested, but Leo had told her that his mother’s jewelry would simply sit in a box collecting dust otherwise, and so she might as well get some use out of it…

The silver _did_ complement her, she supposed, and she enjoyed the way the light blue stones that cascaded down her chest like a chandelier both matched her hair and reminded her of clear blue ice…

She was so preoccupied with the mirror that she didn’t hear her door open, and so nearly jumped when someone else appeared behind her in her reflection. Hands came down to rest on her shoulders, gently kneading her muscles.

“Tense?”

“Maybe a little,” she admitted, honestly, even though she knew from the chuckle that Leo was just teasing her. Though she was also sure he could _feel_ how tense she was from the tightness of her muscles…

“We… Don’t have to do this, if you don’t want,” Leo said, almost cautiously, as his fingers dug into her shoulders to press more insistently at the knots there. It wasn’t the most skillful massage she’d ever received, but she appreciated the effort.

“At the rate people are beginning to talk? If we _don’t_ , then they’ll be finding out through gossip. No, I’d much rather do it myself.”

Leo’s hands migrated from her shoulders to her hair. She had started wearing it down, rather than in her usual pigtails, feeling that it made her look more… Refined? Or at least less immature.

Her serving woman had offered to put it up for her, but she had declined. As carefully brushed and laid as it was, it didn’t need to be _elaborate_ to be _elegant_. She was glad now that she’d turned it down; she was enjoying the feeling of Leo running his hands through her hair, combing it with his fingers, probably making it a bit messier than it had been before but smoothing it down as he went…

“Let people talk,” he said with a scoff, which was exactly what he _always_ said, and while it still made her sigh, she was used to it by now. “They’ve never had anything worth saying anyway.”

“That’s true, but I still would rather tell my sister in person instead of letting her learn about it from an unflattering rumour,” she patiently reminded him, and even though his head was above the rim of the mirror and she was still looking at herself to make sure she was looking her best, she didn’t have to see his face to know he was making that grimace of his…

“W-well,” he said, clearing his throat, and she couldn’t help but laugh softly. “In that case, we’d better hurry. The Hoshidan contingent should be here soon. We’ll be expected to meet them on arrival.”

“I know, Leo,” Flora said, still giggling softly to herself, in a way she wasn’t sure she could stop; it was was much nerves as it was amusement… “I _did_ help you get ready for about a dozen of these visits, even if I was relegated to the background the entire time.”

“Right…”

Leo gave her shoulders another firm squeeze as he stepped back, his fingers skimming over the back of her neck in a way that made her shudder pleasantly…

“You… Look lovely, Flora,” Leo said, and it sounded both so genuine and so awkward at the same time that when Flora laughed this time, it was sudden and unrestrained. Thankfully, Leo didn’t question it as she turned to look at him.

“And you look very handsome, Leo,” she said, taking him in as a whole instead of the small portion she could see in the reflection of her vanity.

Flora could easily remember (because it really hadn’t been that long ago) when she would put on Leo’s cape and crown and he would almost sink under their weight. It didn’t help, she supposed, that they had been the same crown and cape that his father had worn, that Xander had been intended to wear when he took the throne…

There was no escaping the matter of the crown since it was a royal family heirloom, passed down from king to king since the beginning of Nohr’s recorded history (or so the books she had read on the Nohr royal family claimed, although she knew to take claims like that with a grain of salt), but he had traded the cape for something lighter and silken, closer to the half-cape from his old armour, with a dark fur trim, which he wore over a tailored formal suit with brightly polished buttons rather than his armour like his father had always done.

She would have never said it to his face, not when he knew how much he had always struggled— was still struggling— with the idea of being caught up in his siblings’ shadows, not when she had spent most of her life struggling under that same weight, but… Well, the way he looked now made it seem a lot less like he was just wearing an ill-fitting costume, playing at being the king he would have expected his older brother to be.

He looked so much happier, too. She hoped she was part of the reason for that… Even if that was a selfish thing to think. No matter, _she_ was happy to see him like that regardless.

She was happier now, too— happier than she had been when she had found herself back at Nohr, nowhere else to go, not sure if she would even be accepted or if she would just be turned away at the door.

Although at the moment, she was more nervous than anything…

She chose to focus not on all of the things she was worrying about (and she had a _list_ in her head, starting with exactly what sort of Hell was going to break loose when they made the formal announcement) and instead focus on how Leo’s face was turning red because he was embarrassed about being complimented, even after all this time…

“Ready?” she asked, turning the question back on him, because if she didn’t she knew they would bounce back and forth on the matter until they ended up being late.

“If you are,” Leo replied, letting out a shaky breath that showed he was just as nervous as she was, which was a comfort. He extended his hand towards her and helped her to her feet, and she let him even though she didn’t need it, because it made him feel better and she was adjusting to letting herself just… _Be spoiled_ and allowing herself to enjoy it.

And because it felt all the more natural when he crooked his elbow for her to slide her hand in and rest it there.

Already, she was feeling less nervous.

By the time they reached the entrance hall, the nerves had caught up with her.

She kept a cool face, of course. (No pun intended.) She had gotten good at it since returning to Nohr, and though Leo didn’t like hearing her speak of herself that way, she felt like the scar on her face made her look… A bit more intimidating.

The nobles of Nohr were never going to accept her, nevermind _like_ her. And she didn’t care whether they did or not; she hadn’t cared at all when she was a servant, beyond anything they might say about Leo because of her, and the only reason she cared even a _sliver_ now was because she grew increasingly concerned that they were actually going to take _action_ on their complaints at some point.

Of course, they were growing increasingly obsolete as Leo got closer and closer to achieving his first goals as king, and they both took a great deal of satisfaction in that…

Now that she was no longer a servant, someone they all had spent their entire lives knowing they could belittle and treat poorly without any kind of consequences, they didn’t fling insults to her face— or at her back when they knew she was still within hearing range. Their feelings hadn’t changed, she was sure— if anything, they had probably become even more bitter an resentful, knowing that someone like her had the same social standing they did. Maybe even moreso. Leo had named her the diplomatic envoy of the Ice Tribe, after all, and even though it was more or less a meaningless position (the Ice Tribe having very little desire for diplomatic relations with Nohr at the moment, and Nohr having very little need of them), it made her _important_.

Her icy cold glare, the vicious scar on her face, and the way she carried them with the same level of dignity they did?

It _intimidated_ them. And she was happy for it.

Now, though, her goal wasn’t to intimidate— at least, it wasn’t to intimidate the people she was going to meet. She hadn’t gotten to know the Hoshidan royal siblings very well when she’d first met them— first when she’d gained their trust only to betray them, then when she had been kept as their ‘prisoner’ until the end of the war— but they seemed like kind enough people.

They had certainly treated her far more kindly than she deserved after what she had done, betraying them the way she had… Of course, she hadn’t had any other choice, and she had accepted that and moved on, but she still thought it was kind of them to treat her wounds and keep her safe after she had tried to trap and kill them…

Corrin, though? And Felicia, and Jakob, both of whom she knew would be there, because she couldn’t imagine either of them _not_ coming along with Corrin? She knew them very well… And the absolute last thing she wanted to do was disappoint any of them…

Leo reached over with his hand, the one not attached to the arm she was practically clinging to, and laid it on top of her own. His fingers squeezed hers tightly.

“You don’t need to be nervous,” he assured her, in the way that she knew meant he was assuring himself just as much.

“It’s going to go just fine,” she assured him in turn, along with herself.

They turned to each other and smiled.

And then they stepped into the entrance hall.

Flora was aware of the movements of servants in the room, probably far more than any noble, because she knew exactly how much work went into going about your job while also trying to appear invisible to people who had no desire to know of your existence.

(The Northern Fortress had been her and Felicia’s prison, just as much as it had been Corrin’s— no, even more so, because at least he’d been treated as a prince, not as a servant. But the times when Garon’s flunkies had visited the fortress to look in on Corrin’s progress, and her brief time between when Corrin had fled for Hoshido and when she had been used as Garon’s spy, had taught her that things could have been so much worse…)

Of course, there was also a general bustle to hide their activities. Leo had been very strict about allowing anyone else to meet the Hoshidan contingent, just as he was always very strict about who got to meet them. It was safety just as much as it was pettiness— there were a lot of people who looked poorly on the decision Leo had made, choosing peace over conquest, especially when Garon had sunk so much into the war that it had left them at even more of an economic disadvantage than when they had started…

It would reflect very poorly on him if he let one of the Hoshidan royals get assassinated on his watch.

Lady Camilla had actually come out of her room for the first time in a while, though, which made Leo brighten up next to her— she could tell from the way he suddenly stood straighter and his tense muscles loosened, even if she was looking straight ahead as was proper instead of looking up at him. She was glad. She didn’t know Lady Camilla any better than she had known Leo when she had first come back to the palace, but she didn’t deserve any of what she had gone through, either…

Flora didn’t think of herself as an especially violent person, and had never really been the fighter in her family (that was Felicia, of course), but if she could go back in time to land the killing blow on Garon herself, she absolutely would have. For her father, for Gunter, and for everything the mad king had put his own children through…

Her retainers were there as well, as were Odin and Niles, who Leo had tasked with making sure no one else ‘bothered’ the Hoshidans before they arrived (but who Flora was sure had been more of a bother, albeit a harmless one, than anyone else would have been). There was… Some tenseness in the air, but Leo had been working alongside Lord Ryoma for long enough that most of that was in the past, even if there were certain wounds that would never quite heal…

“Flora!”

Leo had started moving towards Lord Ryoma, to greet him properly, one king to another, but it shouldn’t have surprised Flora that Corrin’s enthusiasm was too much to be denied, even by the intricacies of politics. He stepped out of the small crowd of Hoshidans and came striding towards the two of them without hesitation.

“Hello, Lord Corrin,” she said, and though her chest felt a _little_ tight when he came in to give her a hug (forcing her to let go of Leo at the same time), she was surprised by how _calm_ she felt.

There was none of that old panic, none of that old feeling of self-doubt, wondering if her family and oldest friends hated her now or, worse even than that, didn’t care at all… Simply made a show of doing so because it was expected of them.

“You look amazing, Flora,” he said, and sounded so genuine saying it that Flora could feel her face heating up.

She had started getting used to hearing Leo compliment her all the time, but hearing it from other people? That might take some getting used to…

“He’s right!” Felicia came bouncing up behind him, dressed in the same uniform that Flora had recently hung up for good. “Where did you get such a beautiful dress?”

“O-oh.” She should have known Felicia would notice something like that. She was almost tempted to lie and say she bought it for herself, but…

Well, considering what they were planning on telling them, it would have been a useless lie anyway.

“Actually… Leo bought it for me,” she said, swallowing the urge to say ‘Lord Leo’, because she knew he would hate it and Corrin and Felicia would be the last people to care about something like that anyway.

“Oh, did he now?”

Of course, because everyone else had been caught up in talking to each _other_ , she’d forgotten that there were other people there too…

Flora flushed a bright red at Camilla’s comment and the little chuckle she followed it up with. She knew she was starting to drop the temperature around herself a little and tried to take a deep breath to keep it in check, telling herself that it was nothing to make a big deal out of…

“I did,” Leo said, almost defensively, placing his hand on her shoulder and giving a gentle squeeze— which somehow reassured her _and_ made her more anxious at the same time.

Maybe she really wasn’t ready for this, after all…

“Flora is the envoy for the Ice Tribe now,” Leo continued, and she had no idea whether she was relieved that he said it so she didn’t have to, or whether she was annoyed at not having the chance to do so herself.

“Really?” Felicia’s eyes went as wide as tea saucers. “That’s great, Flora!”

“It’s— not really a big deal,” she said. “In fact, I haven’t even been back to visit since just after the war…”

She had gone with Leo to smooth the negotiations of peace, which had mostly just been the Tribe making demands to be left alone… But even though she’d written to discuss the position being granted to her and whether that was alright with the current chief (a distant relative whose name she could hardly remember, and _definitely_ couldn’t remember on the spot, when she was already stressing out about other things), she had gotten the clear impression from their response that they didn’t really care, as long as Leo wasn’t intending to go back on their agreements.

“I haven’t been back for even longer,” Felicia said with a pout that made Flora think she was more bothered by that than Flora was. Then again, Felicia didn’t have to worry about the fact that she had disappointed everyone with her one and only attempt at leadership…

The same worry that was making her anxious now, in fact.

“Maybe you two can go back and visit together,” Corrin suggested, and Flora didn’t know whether it was endearing or irritating, how positive he always seemed to be. Was it just naivety? She doubted it, not after everything he had seen…

“Oh, that would be fun!” Felicia was bouncing on her feet, and reached out to grasp Flora’s hands before Flora had a chance to pull them away— 

Felicia squeezed her hands, paused, squeezed again, and then let out a loud and overly dramatic gasp.

Flora sighed as she realized what was coming.

Felicia took her hand and peered closely, staring at the small, almost unnoticeable lump on the forth finger of her left hand under her glove.

“You’re wearing a ring!” she said loudly, so loudly that Flora had no doubt that _every single person_ in the room heard them, no matter what other conversations they were otherwise distracted by.

In fact, she was _sure_ about it, because she saw every eye in the room turn towards them, and even those she couldn’t see she could _feel_ , and for once she knew that wasn’t just her imagination.

Of course, it could have just been the fact that Felicia was _just that loud_.

She could have simply brushed it off, of course. It wasn’t odd for someone to wear a ring, right? Except that she never wore rings, had never really worn rings, because more than any other jewelery they tended to create problems in the cold— and compared to Felicia, who had much better control over her powers, it tended to be cold when she was around a _lot_ of the time.

And then there was the fact that she was very distinctly wearing it on _that_ finger, and if Felicia was weirdly perceptive enough to pick up on the fact that she was wearing a ring through her glover in the first place, she was definitely going to notice something like _that_.

Maybe, then, the best thing for her to do was to see it as an opportunity, a perfect opening without having to wonder when she should get around to actually _saying_ the words…

“It’s an engagement ring,” she said before she could lose her nerve, and pinched the finger of her glove to pull it off— gently, so the stone didn’t snag on the fabric.

“Wh-wh-whaaaaat?!”

Seeing Felicia’s reaction actually made her relax quite a lot. She giggled at the over the top facial expression, particularly as Felicia grabbed for her hand and stuck her face as close as she could to get to Flora’s hand, like she had to practically poke herself in the eye to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

“I suppose congratulations are in order,” Jakob said, Flora realizing for the first time that he was there as well— maybe she wasn’t quite as good about noticing people as she thought she was, or maybe Jakob was just better at sneaking around than she remembered. If there was anyone who had taken more pride in their skills as a servant than she had, it was certainly him, after all… 

“You didn’t say anything about this in your last letter!” Felicia was pouting now, about one step up from having a wobbling lip, but Flora absolutely couldn’t scold her for it. Not only because she knew Felicia got scolded more than enough without her adding to that, for reasons that absolutely didn’t deserve the level of scolding she received, but also Flora knew her urge to scold her for being childish was based on being anxious, not on how much she actually cared about how Felicia was acting…

That, and she knew she would have been just as upset if she suddenly heard Felicia was getting married without telling her…

“It’s— a complicated situation,” she replied truthfully, but even though it was completely honest, she still couldn’t help but feel like she was lying. It wasn’t a lie in the traditional sense— just a lie by omission, because she felt like she couldn’t get the words out, even when she had already practiced what to say, even when she knew everyone in the room would be happy for her, not upset or angry with her for reaching above her station—

Just as the temperature started to cool, Leo reached for her hand— the one Felicia wasn’t staring at like her ring was going to jump out at her like a snake— in full view of everyone, giving it a comforting squeeze and letting their fingers clasp together, looking to Flora with a raised eyebrow. Seeking permission.

She took a deep breath.

“Leo and I are getting married,” she said, all in one breath because she knew if she hesitated she would trip over her own words, and she could do better than that. All it took was that stony face she had worked so hard on—

And then that thought flew out the window as the entire room exploded.

It started with Felicia and Corrin, of course, because they were both the ones Flora was talking to and the ones who were the most excitable— but Odin was never one to be left out of the fun, even when he already _knew_ , was one of the _only_ people who knew, and then Niles was wolf-whistling…

Ryoma came forward to clap Leo on the shoulder and offer his congratulations, but Flora had only a moment to relish the look on his face before Camilla had scooped _her_ up into a bone crushing hug that made her let out an undignified high pitched squeak.

“Oh, that’s so wonderful!” Camilla actually managed to _lift her off her feet_ as she hugged her, and Flora simply did her best to not panic at the unexpected affection.

“Congratulations, King Leo,” Ryoma said, with the sort of genuine well-wishing that Flora simply wasn’t used to from nobility any longer, and she was sure Leo felt the same. “I’m certain we would all be delighted to attend, if you would have us.”

“Yeah! A big royal wedding is always a good time,” Princess Hinoka added, then elbowed her older brother. “You know this means everyone is going to start bugging you about when _you’re_ going to get married, right?”

“That… Is something to be discussed later.”

Laughter broke out among the Hoshidans as Camilla finally decided to set her down. Flora watched as Leo was almost bombarded with congratulations, shortly before they moved on to her to give the same.

“I can’t believe you’re getting married, Flora! I’m so happy for you!”

“We all are, Felicia.”

“Indeed. Though you’re the last person I would have expected to take up such a shameful practice as marrying your own lord, Flora.”

“Oh hush, Jakob. I think it’s romantic.”

“You… Do, Lord Corrin?”

“Of course! What could be more romantic than a hardworking, kind woman being swept off her feet by a rich and dedicated royal? And they make an adorable couple, don’t you think?”

“A-ahem… If you say so, Lord Corrin.”

Flora didn’t really know what to say about that whole exchange— she didn’t really think Corrin’s romantic vision of the two of them was all that accurate, for one— but she couldn’t help but laugh at the blush that dusted Jakob’s face which Corrin seemed to be completely oblivious to, or smile at the way Felicia’s eyes were sparkling brightly, or at the general buzz of excitement that permeated the room as people came up to give her or Leo a pat on the shoulder or a bright word of encouragement, even people among the Hoshidan party that she had never met but who genuinely seemed happy for them.

She felt another hand reach out for hers, and when she looked down, she wasn’t surprised to find Leo’s hand had found her own once again. Though he wasn’t looking directly at her— it would have been rude to the Hoshidan royal family, who were trying to talk to him— but she could see him peeking at her out of the corner of his eye, as often as he could.

Flora squeezed his hand back, and she felt herself relaxing into his touch, and Leo doing the same for her.

“Well, as nice as all of this is,” Leo said with a loud clearing of his throat. “And it’s… Very kind of all of you, believe me… We should move this into the palace proper, and get on with the rest of our business.”

No one had any problem with that, though wrangling such a large group was not the easiest task, particularly with the excitement that was rippling through the crowd. Flora was glad that she and Leo got to lead the pack. There was a dinner waiting for everyone, after which Leo and Ryoma would likely have to disappear for diplomatic talks, and she was sure she would have no shortage of conversations to be had to keep her occupied in the meantime…

But for right now, the overwhelming anxiety that had frozen around her heart had melted completely, to be replaced by a warm sense of love. Sure, the nobility of Nohr would oppose their marriage at every turn— but knowing she had support from more than just Leo? The weight that had settled on her shoulders and reared its ugly head every time she spent more than a few moments thinking about the two of them since the day Leo had proposed had finally disappeared.

The crown of Nohr sat heavily on Leo’s head, a burden that she wished he had never had to take up, particularly not when he’d had to lose his brother and sister for it— and the weight of her own responsibilities (and her own failures), though not quite so broad, sat heavily on her to match. She had come back to Nohr hoping that helping someone else carry their burdens would help her forget about her own, though in the end it had only managed to distract her— it had taken everything else that followed to get her to truly accept and start moving past what had been holding her down, keeping her head just barely above water.

Standing at Leo’s side and having him stand at hers, though? Knowing that they had the love and support of the people in the world who cared for them most, even if the rest of the world stood against them?

She felt lighter than she had in _years_.


End file.
